Page:Boys Life of Booker T. Washington.djvu/149

Rh speech in Atlanta, it can readily be seen that he was a man of commanding and striking personality. Wherever he went he attracted attention.

He was an untiring worker. He went at tremendous speed all the time. He could do as much, as a rule, as three or four ordinary men. He kept a stenographer with him all the time. As he went about the grounds he would dictate suggestions and ideas for changes and improvements. He would often awaken his stenographer at night to dictate a letter or a speech or a statement for the papers. In this way he never overlooked an important thought or idea that occurred to him, and his ideas were always taken down while fresh and vivid in his mind. He often confounded his faculty by his tremendous energy. He would call them in and lay out enough work for them to keep busy for a week and, then, almost before they could get started, demand results. He could work so fast himself and do so much, he never realized that it took other people longer to finish a task.

He had a very active mind. He could think quickly. He was also a good judge of men and knew the worth of a man almost at sight. When any subject was presented to him, he would arrive at conclusions quickly and accurately.

As he grew older, he exhibited a certain amount of absentmindedness, due, perhaps, to concentration of mind. He would meet his best friends on